Arcanum
by Polynox
Summary: In a small town hidden between thick forests, girls go missing in the night. No trace, never to be found. Solace is immediately captured within the truth of the situation, beginning to experience things that don't actually happen. When our heroine discovers the truth, she ends up dooming humanity, and now she must question whether she is good or bad, and what is right and wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, all. I know it's been a while since I last wrote/updated anything. Years, in fact. But I've worked on my writing, and hopefully have improved.**

**This fiction will be a test of my skills as a writer, and hopefully without life getting in the way, we can see this through the start and finish.**

**Please enjoy, review if you wish-it will help the story expand, grow, and finish.**

_~Polynox_

* * *

Chapter One:

"I want you to stay in the house when I am not home, and that is final."

My father glared down at me, in a stern, loving way. It was morning, cold outside, snow falling in flurries outside the kitchen window. He was just concerned. As a police officer, he felt it was his duty to not only protect the citizens of this small town, but also me, his only family. As many times as I tried to explain that it would be safe to walk alone during the day, he wouldn't hear it.

Girls, around my age-17-have been going missing for the past year and a half. My father and his men have been working night and day to find whoever, or whatever, was doing this, but they've always come up empty handed. Most of the girls were reported to wander out during nighttime, and never be found again. Completely vanished with no trace. They never found bodies, so it couldn't be said what was done with them.

Many of them had been my friends, classmates. My father pulled me out of school, said it would be better if I just never went out until the culprit was caught. You'd think he be a little more understanding. I was about to tear my own hair from my scalp, frustrated. I wasn't allowed to see any friends unless they came over, which none really did, due to the fact they were under house arrest, too.

I opened my mouth to speak back, to voice my complaints, but a knock on the door quieted both me and my father. He turned, strutting down the hallway, and opened the door to a teary-eyed woman I didn't recognize.

"Please," she sobbed, reaching out and clutching one bony hand around my fathers collar. I took a step forward, watching. "P-please, you have to help . . . it's my daughter . . ." Her voice cut off in hics and sobs, her face beat red and eyes barley open under all the tears.

My father took the woman's hand from his shirt. "Please, m'am, if you could just explain,"

"No time!" Her voice rose to a panicked wail. "She-she was just grabbed . . . edge of town . . . forest . . ."

My father, the heroic he was, immediately stepped outside with the woman, asking which way her daughter had disappeared.

Not only was this strange, it seemed . . . wrong. I wasn't one to jump to conclusions, but that woman . . . didn't seem right. And not just because she was falling to pieces over her supposedly kidnapped daughter. I took a step forward, watching as my father stepped out of view, obviously rushing to the rescue, when the woman turned her eyes, just for a second.

I froze, eyes wide as a slow smirk flickered on her face, eyes looking at me, menacingly inhuman now. And then it was gone, she was glancing at me with innocent, tear-filled eyes and then turned and ran after my father.

My heart pounded against my ribs. Was I just imagining things? My stomach knotted with unease, worry for my father, suspicious about the woman now. But why would she trick my father?

I knew I couldn't leave my father alone out there with that woman. But I paused in the doorway, the snow falling cold on my hair and shoulders. I looked up, using a hand to cover my eyes from the growing flakes. The sky loomed overhead, stirring with dark clouds.

I had little time to bundle up against the wind, which seemingly just started to grow harsher. I crossed my arms over myself, taking off mid-sprint the way I saw my father and the woman go.

It was quiet, except for my loud heartbeat and breathing in my ears. It was not unusual that no one was on the street. It was beginning to grow dark, and most people were already inside, fearing another girl might go missing. But it seems that had already happened, if the woman was not playing tricks.

The line of the forest was dark, sheltered from the tall lamp posts on the walkways. I looked over my shoulder, not seeing my father nor the woman anywhere. Surely they had come this way? This was the nearest entrance into the woods, anyways.

I was about to turn around and try a different place, but a flash of movement made me turn back around. Although nothing was there. I wasn't about to wander into the forest, lest my father kill me, or hell, I could get in trouble myself. I chewed on my bottom lip, a shiver quaking my body. I rubbed my upper arms, bare in my tank-top.

No, something was wrong. I needed to go get help, run to the police station and tell them what had happened. But I couldn't move my feet. I couldn't turn my head, either. I was frozen. Was it fear paralyzing me? . . . or something else?

A faint, long wail sounded not too far from the line of the forest, where I stood. I tried to run, to move, to get help, but I was still incapacitated.

The woman approached from the shadows, my limbs unlocking. I fell to my knees, my legs giving way, whether weak from being too still, or it was simply my own panic that was crippling me.

She bent on a knee in front of me, her face drawn blank. A flash of terror rocked my body, but I was unable to fling myself away from her, as her hand cupped my throat. She brought her lips next to my ear. The world seemed to halt for a moment, and for a split second I heard her speak.

"Too weak. You are too weak."

I blinked once, and she was gone. The tightness from her hand was still there, and I clutched at my throat, gasping in deeply.

"Siron!" I heard my father's voice from behind me, and tears filled the corners of my eyes. I turned to look at him. His face was slightly flushed in anger, but he looked relieved to see me.

"Father," I sighed, as he helped me to my feet.

"What the hell are you doing by the forest? You could have been snatched! What did I say about not going out when I wasn't home?"

My eyebrows furrowed, confused. "I was just worried . . . you took off with that woman so suddenly . . ."

He cut me off mid sentence. "What the hell are you talking about, Siron? I left for work two hours ago. You said goodbye to me, don't you remember? You were watching TV in the living room."

"I . . . what?" My voice was just a whisper. What was going on? My father never went after the woman? But I saw him. I saw _her._

He looked me once over while I shook with realization, my mind was numb just trying to figure out what was going on. "Did you fall? Did you hit your head or something?"

"N-no. I mean, I don't think so." I faintly remembered now-I said goodbye to my father as he left for work. I had gone to sleep. Had . . . had I been dreaming? But . . . it was too real.

"Look, we can talk more when you're inside, safe and warm. Can you walk?"

"Yes," I said quietly, stumbling back home with my dad.

We were both silent in our walk.

Had I been sleepwalking? Surely . . . this has to be a joke of some kind. There was no way that it could all be a dream. I mean, I knew something was wrong from the start, but . . .

_"Too weak. You are too weak." _

Too weak . . . I was . . . too weak?


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again, welc****ome to Chapter Two of my story Arcanum. I hope that you enjoy-I will be trying to keep things interesting and chapters as long as I can. Favouriting, watching, and reviewing all help the story grow and get better. **

_~Polynox_

* * *

Chapter Two:

Father took me to the hospital the next day, concerned for my health after what had happened the other night. I couldn't really sleep, so when I was getting examined by the doctor, I was in and out on what was going on. He said I was most likely sleep deprived, and that it would be good for me to get some more fresh air since I was being cooped up all day like some dog. I looked at my father, who had a sheepish expression on his face.

I didn't bother trying to explain to them that what had happened was real; after talking with my father last night, he _said_ he had left home for work and when he returned I wasn't there. I still couldn't figure out what was going on. It buzzed in the back of my head like a swarm of angry hornets, stinging at my mind for some solution.

That woman, though . . . and what she said. What was it supposed to mean? Was it all just a dream; a subconscious worry that I might be taken too? But my father didn't find me sleeping. I was wide awake, still on the ground, recovering from her cold hand around my throat. None of it made sense.

We were back home now. I had just woken from a long nap, and it was about mid afternoon. My father was on the phone, talking with one of his co-workers about the disappearances. I stood up from the sofa and stretched, walking past him to the front door. I slipped on my long coat, pulling on my boots.

He stepped out from the kitchen doorway. "Where are you going?"

"The doctor said it would be good for me to get some fresh air. It's daytime, father, I will be fine." I had my hand on the doorknob, waiting for his reply.

He sighed deeply, looking me with worry. "Don't be too long. And don't go near the woods."

I smiled, and then waved as I shut the door behind me. As much as I hated disobeying my father, I couldn't help myself from slowly shambling towards the line of the forest. I looked around. The streets were empty, as usual, with the occasional noise of chatter from neighbors houses. I stopped in front of the line of trees, about where I thought my father found me. I circled around no spot in particular, looking between the ground and the forest, running things over in my mind.

"_Too weak. You are too weak._" The woman's haunting words ran through my mind and my body, causing me to shiver.

I stood in place, furrowing my eyebrows, deep in thought. What did it mean? Was I just simply over thinking a sleepwalking dream? As much as I tried, I couldn't let it go. My hand wrapped around my throat, remembering how her fingers dug into my skin. Cold, and hard. Her face, her eyes, so inhumanly blank.

Slowly-subconsciously, I guess-I walked farther, past the line of the forest, leaning against a tree. My free hand ran down the rough bark.

"Trying to strangle yourself?" Came a voice. I jumped, my hand dropping, and I turned my head to see a . . . guy? My heart beat wildly, unsure of what to do. Who the hell would be in the forest? Well, I was, but . . . He . . .

He smiled, brushing some hair back from his face. I wanted to look at him, head to toe, but I couldn't take my eyes off of his. They shimmered under his disheveled auburn hair, dark as wine. He looked my age, albeit a little older.

"What are you doing in the woods?" Was all I could manage to say.

"I could ask the same question. I was just going for a walk." His eyes said different, but I didn't say anything.

"Yes, I suppose." I said, chewing on my bottom lip. He watched this, his eyes flickering up and down my body once. "Do you live here?" I motioned towards the street.

"No," he sighed, glancing the way I shrugged. "I attend an academy nearby, farther off in the woods, about a mile or so away. I was just running some errands."

There was a school in these woods? And with all of these kidnappings, they hadn't shut it down? I furrowed my eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice soft. He came closer, leaning against another tree about a foot away.

My stomach twisted, a flash of pain stabbing the back of my head, but I ignored it, willing myself not to get weak in front of . . . this man.

"Siron." I said, just as quietly as he had.

"I am Kaname," he smiled. "It is a pleasure." He held out his hand. I stared at it for a long moment, then reluctantly reached out and shook his palm.

His fingers enveloped mine, squeezing for just a moment. He didn't drop my hand, and I couldn't, either. His palm was so warm . . .

Suddenly he pulled me closer, into his chest, and used his free hand to brush back my hair from my face. My cheeks heated intensely, when he leaned down, his lips dangerously close to mine.

"I believe you," he said, his voice no higher than a whisper. His words seemed to swirl in the breeze around us.

I was confused. He believed me? . . .

"I don't understand," I said, my voice almost lower than his, shaking with unease.

His eyes softened, staring down at me. "I wish I could explain things better, Siron. That woman you met the other day, she was not a figment of your imagination."

My heart skipped a beat. He knew about the woman . . . _how_?

"You . . . know about that?"

"I know a lot," he said, with a hint of disgust wrapping around his words. "But _you _only need to know one thing." He stared down at me, gaze so intense it shook something inside of me. His eyes were so deep . . .

"You are anything but weak, Siron."

The world grew quiet as I let his words sink in. "How do you . . .? Why . . .?"

My cheeks flared unwillingly with heat as his lips brushed my jaw. "In time." he said.

Eyes closing for but a moment, when I opened them, he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
**

**Favouriting, watching, and reviewing all help the story grow and get better.**

_~Polynox_

* * *

Chapter Three:

It'd been a couple days since I met Kaname in the forest. Or, I thought I met him. Was he just another figment of my imagination? He was there and gone in the blink of an eye. Father kept a close eye on me, worried about my health. I tried not to let me curiosity draw me outside to the forest again.

I was sitting on the sofa, picking at the edge of the blanket that was wrapped around me, when I remembered something Kaname had said. _"I attend an academy nearby, farther off in the woods, about a mile or so away."_

"Father?" I asked, keeping my eyes down in thought.

"What is it, Siron?" He stepped out from the kitchen, dawned in his uniform, meaning he was about to leave for work.

"Is there a school in the woods?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I do recall a Cross Academy . . . Why do you ask?"

So there actually was a school out there . . . "I was just wondering. I overheard someone talking about it."

He was silent again, and when I looked up he was staring at me.

"Is something wrong, father?"

"No, guess my mind just wandered." he mumbled something under his breath and then went to the front door, pulling on his coat. "I'll be home later, around supper time. I'd rather you not go out while I'm gone, but if you do, stay away from the woods."

"As usual, Father." I said, my eyes falling down again.

He grunted in reply, and then the front door shut behind him.

I fell over, so I laid on my side. I pulled one of the sofa's matching pillows under my head and closed my eyes. Slowly, I drifted to sleep, my mind filled with mysterious strangers, dark forests, and cold hands wrapping around my throat.

* * *

_When I woke up, it was __cold. Very cold. My blanket was gone, and I was laying on hard tile, or something of the sort. I sat up quickly, confused. As I looked around, infinity seemed to stretch before me. I don't know how to describe it, exactly. There was a lack of walls, of things to break up the space, and where I sat seemed to drop off to nothingness a few feet from me. There was nothing of colour . . . I couldn't even describe it as black, white, or even grey. It just simply didn't exist._

_Shakily, I stood up, and peered over the edge of the square I stood on. It led to absolute nothingness, and if I fell, I would surely cease._

_A deep, faint chuckle echoed in my ears. It was hard to place where it was coming from, since there was nothing or nowhere it would reverberate from.  
_

_"Is . . . someone there?" My voice was tiny, but a murmur of a sound in this large space. I wrapped my arms around myself, seeking warmth and comfort.  
_

_"Ah, Siron, so oblivious . . . so _weak_." The man's voice cut right through me, almost like a physical blow, and I had to take a step back.  
_

_Then, another person was on the platform with me. I jumped back, almost slipping from the edge, but found balance and repositioned myself a safe distance from both the man and the seemingly long fall to my death.  
_

_He stared at me, in complete silence that rang in my ears, almost enough to make a person go deaf. His eyes burned through me, one ice blue, the other the same colour as Kaname's had been-a deep, rich burgundy.  
_

_He smirked at my staring at him, and for some reason I felt my cheeks grow hot._

_"Do you know who I am?" he asked, monotone voice completely void of emotion.  
_

_I shook my head, not sure what to say._

_He closed his eyes and nodded. "Of course not. But I guess a reintroduction is in order. I am Rido. Who I am to you though-that, you will have to figure out on your own." His smile was mocking, his eyes so deep and . . . menacing._

_I swallowed, my throat tight. "Can you explain anything?" my voice rang urgent, and Rido raised his eyebrows. "Please, anything? I am about to go mad . . ."  
_

_He chuckled, making me grow silent. "I am afraid not, dear Siron, or else Kaname would have already. In time, as I believe he said?"_

_I couldn't reply. What was going on . . .?_

_My eyes brimmed over with tears of frustration, and I hung my head, not able to look at him. "Why is this happening to me?"_

_He did not reply. When I looked up, he had a thoughtful expression on his face, but still said nothing.  
_

_I heard the sound of movement, cloth against cloth, but it did not come from Rido nor myself. _

_Rido sighed, looking up. "Damnable brat. Well, that is your cue to wake up, dear Siron. We'll meet again." His eyes went dark.  
_

_He vanished, and so did the floor below me._

* * *

I started, jumping forward, almost falling off of the couch, but a hand wrapped around my arm, keeping me from going any further.

I turned my head, and froze, as I looked into dark wine eyes, staring down at me calmly.

"Kaname . . . ?" my voice trailed off.

He reached out, letting go of my arm, and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"Siron."

My cheeks heated, remember his lips touching my chin. I shook my head. It was definitely not okay to get flustered over a figment of your imagination.

"What's going on?" I asked, eyebrows furrowing.

He sighed, eyes deep with unreadable emotion. "Alas, I still may not tell you. In time,"

"That again?" I sounded irritated-but I was, so why hold it back? "Why can you not explain anything? Why is this happening to me? Am I simply going mad?"

He smirked. "I wish I could. I simply wish I could tell you everything, but it is not that easy. You must find for yourself, and when you do, it if your decision what to do."

I slouched, defeated. "I don't understand."

"You do not need to." He opened his mouth, as he were to say more, but glanced towards the front door and back. "We'll speak later," he said, and leaned forward, pressing his lips to my forehead.

The front door swung open, and when I turned my head back from seeing my father waltz in, he was once again gone. I sighed, and stood, greeting my father.

"How was work?"

"It was fine." he said, but his gaze seemed far off.

"Are you alright, father?" I asked, worried. Maybe his work was finally getting to him.

"Ah, I'm fine, Siron. I was just thinking, you know. Maybe I shouldn't have taken you out of school."

"But it's safer, I suppose." I said, trying to comfort him. "A lot of students are being home schooled, now, too."

He shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the coat rack. "But would you want to go back?"

"I . . . suppose. Why, father? Are you going to enlist me back in Saint Moer?"

"No," he sighed, looking down at me. I furrowed my eyebrows in question. "You know that school you mentioned earlier?"

My stomach dropped, but I said nothing.

"I think you should go there . . . Attend Cross Academy."


End file.
